Obviously Forbidden
by Lunarfeather
Summary: In a time where the legends of the Maple World are still young. They will gather together to defeat the Black Mage. Great challenges from both their enemy, and internal strife may cause them to crumble. Will they pull through with their inner strength?
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

**Chapter 1: The Beginning**

Hi guys! Sorry about the super long as hell hiatus, there were a number of things that went on none being very pleasant for me. I have sort of given up on my former fic, when I read it over I realized that it had turned into something that was not in my original plans. I received some very useful advice saying that I should plan out a story before I write it and that is exactly what I'm going to do with this fic. Don't worry it's still about MS just that this time I'm using my two favorite Legends!

**Enjoy!**

The rain.

Cloudy and overhanging, giving an atmosphere of malevolence, yet, at times peace, it falls today, pooling around my feet. Why does it fall, what kind of rain is it? The wind blows, the wind that tells either of an evil, or new hope, it whips through my hair. Why does it blow, what kind of wind is it?

As I sit here, pondering these questions, let me tell you my story...

Excuse me ma'am but may I interest you in my fine wares?"

I looked over at the merchant who had addressed me. He offered few goods that I would be interested in: A mug, a pocket knife, some paper, and a package of food. I decided to buy the pocket knife, never know when you might need one.

"I'll take the knife please."

"A wise choice ma'am, in these times one never knows when one may run into trouble."

I took the knife with me and placed it in my traveling bag while walking further down the road. It was a cheering scene, small children were playing with each other, yet, as I watched them play, a feeling of sadness fell over me as I realized that they were wearing the clothes of an orphanage, their parents having most likely been another casualty of this war.

This war, caused by who we know only as the Black Mage, has ravaged our beautiful Maple World; so far he has not moved beyond the land of the El Nath Mountains. However we have also been unable to stop his advances whenever he chooses to. His power grows and people lose their hope, shamefully we, the resistance force, have been unable to destroy his forces.

These troubled thoughts run through my head as I walk through the streets of Orbis, the City in the Sky.

As I round the corner I see a thief running off with what looked like someone's money sack, petty criminal, isn't it bad enough that we have to live under fear of the Black Mages attack? Too bad for him. Running after them I quickly caught up with my superior agility.

"Stop! You can't get away!" As with all criminals he of course did not listen to me, not that I really expected him to anyways, looks like the knife I had just bought would come in handy sooner than I thought.

Soon he found himself facing a dead end, stereotypical. What was not stereotypical was what happened next, 2 other thieves came out from behind us. Should have figured that he wouldn't be alone, I was beginning to regret my decision to come un-armed bar the small knife in my bag now.

The original thief was smirking, "Now who's the one who can't get away girl? You can't take all three of us at once."

Indeed, if I was a normal human such a feat would be nigh impossible, luckily I wasn't.

Whipping around I took out one of the thieves by hitting his pressure point with my fingers. One down.

Recovering from their initial shock, his companions came after me; I quickly neutralized another by introducing him to my fist which, as a bonus, introduced him to the wall.

The third of the trio started running in out the only exit while I was beating his two friends, excuse me, accomplices, but I digress. I wouldn't catch him even with my speed; he was a thief after all. Damn, looks like the original is going to get away, I chased anyways; you could always get lucky.

Skidding as I ran around the corner a shocking sight greeted me. The thief was caught in what seemed to be liquid shadow; the controller seemed to notice I was there for as soon as I saw him he disappeared. Well at least I caught the thief...

~~~1 Hour later~~~

"Thank you ma'am, three have been wanted for theft for over 2 months now!"

"No need to thank me officer I was just doing what anybody else would have done."

'Then again' I thought, 'A normal person wouldn't have caught them in the first place'

I glanced down at my watch, the boat to Victoria Island would arrive in about 20 minutes, just enough for me to get there grab a ticket and hopefully something to eat before I got on board the massive vessel.

~~~20 Minutes later~~~

'Damn!' I mentally screamed, 'Why did I spend the time to get lunch!'

I just barely reached the boat in time as it was beginning to take off.

'Looks like I would be able to make it to Victoria Island peacefully after all.' I thought as the boat began its journey through the air.

I enjoyed the air whipping through my hair as we soared in the sky.

"GRAUGH"

"Or that could happen" I muttered under my breath, cursing my luck.

As the Crimson Barlog attacked the ship I ran to get under the deck, I thought wistfully of my weapons which I had sent back home to be repaired. And of course the brutish air pirate would target me as I run. Curse my luck…

He fired a shot of black lightning at me, 'No time to dodge!'

"Magic Guard!" I heard a voice shout out and a blue mana barrier formed around my body as the black lightning bounced off harmlessly.

"Magic Flare!"

A terrific bout of flame shot from just behind me impacted the Barlog. I watched as it disintegrated into particles.

"Well looks like I saved your butt, although I never expected you to be one of those helpless girls!" came a voice from behind me.

"I'm not, and I didn't need your help."

"Right… And on what are you basing that on."

"On my contempt for you." I deadpanned.

"Ouch that was harsh"

"Well that sucks for you then doesn't its, Freud?"

"I suppose there's no changing you is there, Queen Mercedes?"

**A/N**

Anyways first chapter of my comeback fic!

R&R Please!

-Lunarfeather


	2. Chapter 2: Cruising for a Bruising

Chapter 2: Cruising for a Bruising

"So Queen Mercedes what are you doing around here? Don't you usually stay around your elven city of Elluel, wherever it is."

Looking down on his Freud's smirking face, Mercedes felt a need to restrain herself from knocking him upside the head.

"Shut it, I was on an urgent mission for the elders."

"And may I ask, what was this mission?"

"It's none of your concern, just a quick visit to Leafre."

"So why didn't you bring those fancy bowguns that you're always lugging around. I've never known you to run around completely defenseless, and you should know how dangerous around Leafre."

You know what? Screw self-control.

-**PLAK**-

"Ow… What was that for….?"

"For being a complete idiot"

"Fine… but seriously what happened to those dual bowguns that you use?"

Mercedes' face looked as if she had bitten into a lemon.

"Danika thought it would be a good idea to how I would react if the little children started playing with my bowguns…"

Freud chuckled as he thought of the childish Elder of War that he had met on a trip through Victoria Island, handing the weapons of the ruler of her city to small children to play with.

**FLASHBACK**

'Even if they are important, why am I the one always sent to the annual Maple Root meetings? It's not like he can't send one of the younger apprentices!"

These were the thoughts of the Senior Apprentice of Grendel as he tried to hail a cab back to Ellinia after the meeting of the Alliance. Finally a cab stopped in front of him.

The passenger area was separated from the driver by a sliding glass screen which Freud could swear was super glued on. After struggling for about a minute he finally got it open, physical strength, as it was for most mages, was not his strong suit.

"Ellinia please."

The driver looked back at him.

"Sure thing buddy by first we have to stop by the tree that grew, this little lady here paid me a little extra to stop by a monster infested area."

It was then that Freud noticed the cab's other passenger. A young lady with a shock of red hair and unnaturally pointed ears.

"Could you by any chance be an elf?" The words were out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

The lady's eyes immediately narrowed, "Why you think so?"

Freud immediately knew he had stumbled on a touchy subject, Elves had long since learned to distrust humans because of an incident almost ten years ago.

"I just saw your ears and thought-"

"Thought what, that you humans could get close to commit such atrocities against my kind again?"

Now Freud was usually a patient person, USUALLY he would never snap at such a small provocation, but USUALLY he would be running on more than caffeine after an eight hour meeting, and USUALLY he wouldn't be stereotyped because of his species, something he hated.

"Just because I asked if you were an elf or not is no reason for your cheap provocations! I haven't asked you a thin other than if you're and elf or not, yet you feel the need to bury me in your false accusations, I don't need this right now so LAY OFF THE ATTITUDE!"

First came the blank stare, then came the moist eyes and wobbling lip, until the red haired female burst into tears.

Freud was aghast over what he just did.

"I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean any of that, really!"

But no matter what he said or did she would just not stop crying.

'What should I do, I'm no girl expert, for goddess' sake I've never even been on a date!"

At this the cab driver simply gave him an incredulous, are-you-kidding-me look.

He simply handed him a handkerchief and said, "Here boy, take this and at least dry her tears, what kind of man are you, making a lady cry."

Freud felt the heat rising to his face at being scolded like a child by the driver, but at least his advice helped Freud calm down the elf girl.

"Well miss if it's too much to ask may i inquire as to what your name is?"

The red haired girl muttered something under her breath.

"Excuse me? I couldn't hear you."

"I said my name is Danika"

"A good name, and now I'll tell you my name, I am Freud, senior apprentice to Grendel the Really Old."

Freud could see her eyes widen with admiration and felt the heat rush up to his face.

"Senior Apprenice Wow that must mean you know a lot about all the branches of magic! What's your name?"

"You can call me Freud."

"Hmmm… Freud, that name sounds familiar." Danika said as she adopted a thoughtful posture. (A/N Think hand on chin type thing)

"I'm always the one that Grendel sends to the Maple Root meetings if that helps."

"Ah! In fact it does! You are the one who always drives her highness up a wall! She says that you are the single most irritating human man that she has ever met!"

Freud sweatdropped, 'Better watch my back at the next meeting in case Ms. Queen of the Elves decides to do me in!'

"I-I see, may I ask what your relationship ia to her highness?"

"I'm her Elder of War."

"Y-you?" Freud spluttered in disbelief.

"Yeah, what's wrong about that?"

"Oh um nothing, nothing at all…"

'You'd think that the Elder of War wouldn't cry from somebody yelling at her..."

The two continued to talk until the driver got to The Tree That Grew.

Danika stepped out of the cab while saying goodbye to Freud, she mentally sighed. 'He's so fine... too bad he's a human.'

**FLASHBACK END**

Freud had a completely dreamy look in his eyes as he recalled the happy memories.

"Freud"

Freud jolted out of his dreamlike state, "Yes Mercedes?"

Aforementioned Queen was fixing him with a glare that would've frightened the Black Mage.

"So you admit to making MY ELDER OF WAR CRY?"

"Y-yes?" Freud answered back meekly.

"Well then we still have about half an hour until we get to Victoria Island..."

Freud paled as Mercedes walked towards him slowly with and evil smirk on her face, it was terrifying. Only one thought crossed his mind as he watched her approach.

'I am so dead'

~~~~~~~Sometime Later~~~~~~~

The speakers suddenly turned on and out came the voice of the captain, Cherry, came over the speakers.

"Excuse me, could I have everyone's attention please, we will be landing on Victoria Island in about five minutes, please prepare to disembark and thank you for flying with us!"

Mercedes turned around to face the boy she was tort- er punishing.

"Hear that spell-boy your punishment only lasts for five more minutes"

Freud, who was crawling away an also nurturing a black eye, flinched as he heard the new name given to him.

'I knew I would regret not learning holy magic before ice and fire magic!' he thought.

"Now get back here we still have five minutes!"

Freud ran as fast as he could down the deck "N-NO PLEASE I'M SORRY!"

Unfortunately or fortunately depending on who you were, Freud's lack of physical prowess once again came up to haunt him Mercedes caught up in seconds.

Meaning to catch his legs she tackled him to the ground, however as they landed the ship hit the dock and their momentum carried them right off the gangplank of the ship which, conviently enough carried them right onto the dock floor.

"Ow my head… Darn it Freud why does your head have to be so damn hard..."

"This wouldn't have happened if you weren't chasing me..."

"What was that!"

A new voice interceded before the arguement built up.

"Well you highness, I have to admit I did not expect this when I decided to come fetch you and deliver your bowguns."

Mercedes looked up and saw…

Philius?

"What do you mean?" She questioned as she saw the slightly embarassed look on the face of her Elder of Magic.

She looked down and saw Freud's hands around her waist, how her hands splayed on his chest, and how she sat as if she were straddling him.

Her face flushed a brilliant shade of crimson.

"W-WAIT PHILIUS I-IT'S NOT WHAT I-IT L-LOOKS LIKE I S-SWEAR!"

A/N

Ah writing awkward moments, how I missed them. :)

Anyways, Read and Review please!

-Lunarfeather


	3. Chapter 3: The Queen,The Elder,The Thief

Chapter 3: The Queen, The Elder, The Thief

Laugh, Laugh, Laugh:

It does look this this will be a MercedesxFreud pairing yes. XD

Zorathar24:

I couldn't stop laughing when i was writing this too. LOL

To anonymous reviewers:

Thanks for reviewing! It really makes a difference when you get some encouragement from people who read your story. Yes there will be Demon Slayer, Phantom, Aran, and Luminous. (Final Legends Hero Class) But they'll each be shown seperately.

P.S. Please make an actual account, it would be nice to be able to actually identify who I'm responding too. Thanks again for reviewing. =D

Mercedes watched as a massive ship flew over Elluel, it's shadow covered a fourth of the town. Intricate gold carvings covered the ship. She looked to the side and saw Freud standing by Danika while seemingly protectively holding her. She felt something twinge in her chest, something she didn't like, but the feeling was forgotten as something descended from the ship, a swirl of…?

**~~~~~~~~~Several Hours Earlier~~~~~~~~~~**

"Come on Mercedes I said I was sorry!"

Mercedes coldly glared at the magician behind her.

"I don't need to be reminded of such a debacle Freud, least of all by you." As she glared at him with ice chips as her teal eyes.

Visibly shrinking under her glare, Freud couldn't meet her eyes.

Instead of feeling satisfied with her victory, Mercedes inwardly seethed as she felt as if no victory had been won at all.

'The nerve of him, I've never been more embarassed in my life. Being seen in such a state in public, witnessed by Philius no less! Anything of the sort is utterly unbefitting of someone of my position!"

Philius' voice snapped her out of her inner rage.

"Your highness, we have arrived at Elluel please after you."

The trio proceeded to enter until they came to a small cave with guards stationed there. They both quickly bowed to Philius and Mercedes. However they both als paid suspicious glances at Freud.

"Your highness, Elder, welcome home." They both intoned.

"Thank you Cecelia, Ebeneizer. How are you?"

"Fine your highness, Elder Danika was wondering if you had come by earlier this day, she said she would be waiting in front of the Goddess' tree."

"Hmm, I'll be sure to find her later. In any case keep up the good work you two."

The trio proceeded into the cave until the procession came to Freud.

"Halt, only her highness and her loyal elves may enter, who are you human?"

Freud looked over to Mercedes for help though to no avail, she seemed to enjoy watching him struggle as he inwardly panicked.

'How long do girls hold onto grudges anyways?'

The Cecelia gave him looks.

"Well?"

"Er… well that is to say, I am Freud, senior apprentice to Grendel."

"And what is the reason for your visit to our city of elves?"

"I the um…" Freud stared at Mercedes.

'What are we even!' He screamed in his head

"Acquaintence he is my acquaintence here for a social meeting."

Freud looked up and saw to his great surprise that Mercedes was the one who had answered for him.

"Mercedes! I knew we were friends for a reason!" He yelled as he flew at her.

-THWAK-

"I said we were acquaintences not friends." Mercedes said as she held her fist over him, ready to deliver another blow if needed.

'What a troublesome friend I have. Wait I mean acquaintence.'

Whimpering and holding his head, Freud followed Mercedes and Philius into Elluel, the City or Elves.

Freud looked out into the warm sunlight to find an amazing city layed out in front of him.

Mercedes turned around to gauge his reaction, except what she found was Freud staring right at her.

"Beautiful..." he mumbled with a dreamy look on his face.

Mercedes could feel the heat come to her cheeks, "W-what?"

"Oh sorry I was just looking at he city, it's amazing!"

And indeed that was no understatement, the brilliant sinlight of the day reflecting off the pools of clear water. The elegant buildings with grand carvings. Small elven children running around. And the most dominating structure, a large tree in the center of town with brilliant pink leaves, and at the foot of the tree he saw…

"Danika!"

Said red-head turned around to see her favorite cru- *ahem* human friend.

"Hey Freud!" She exclaimed before she noticed something strange about her friend.

"Where did ya get that black eye from? In fact, you look like you've been through the wringer! You look terrible!"

"Oh this? It's just from Mer-" he hesitated after feeling an ominous bloodlust behind him...

Danika tilted her head to the side in confusion, "Mer... What Freud?"

Freud quickly weighed his options, tell the truth and hang on to what little manly pride he had left, or make something up and live.

He chose the latter, "Um mercurial, that's right. It was mercurial as to what happened to give me these injuries!"

"Mhmm, sure..." Danika sweatdropped, clearly not believing him.

Mercedes stepped forward, "In any case Danika what is it tht you wished to speak with me about?"

"Oh you highness, well what I am about to reveal is..."

She glanced at Freud. "It is not for all ears you highness."

"Well then" Philius interrupted, "we will speak of this in a more private setting. Your highness, please meet us in the council chamber. Human, you may stay for the time being, perhaps you may interest yourself in our library."

Freud was not dumb, he knew when he was being brushed off. Philius was telling him to buzz off as politely as he could. Well he wouldn't be ignored so easily.

"Why thank you for your hospitality, perhaps I would have the honor of seeing you again at dinner.

"Why yes of course." Philius smiled although his smile was as if someone had come and jerked his lips rather messily upwards.

"Thank you."

**~~~~~In the Council Chamber Later~~~~~**

Mercedes POV

"Queen Mercedes I am telling you as your Elder of Magic that the human that came here with us MUST leave by tomorrow."

I looked over at Philius, was he saying that because he really believes Freud is a danger or because he simply doesn't like him? Somehow I'm encouraged to think that it's the latter.

"Philius, I doubt that Freud is that much of a threat. Now Danika, what is it that you need to speak to me about?"

"Um... well… that is, you see…"

I narrowed my eyes, what was so bad that even Danika had trouble telling me? Then she looked over at Philius… and something clicked.

"Philius I will have to ask you to leave the room while Danika tells me… whatever it is."

"But your highness, as your Elder I feel it my responsibility to hear this and assist you in any way I can!"

I sighed, 'Damnit Philius sometimes you are too damn devoted to your job'

"Philius" I began, "such devotion is great but if you don't get out of this room within the next 30 seconds, we're going to find out how accurate I really am at hitting human sized targets."

He blanched, "Your highness you wouldn't!"

"28 seconds left."

He started running.

"Now, what is it that you need to tell me Danika?"

"Well your highness, I um, am ready to begin my courtship."

I blinked, Danika, as in the youngest Elder, fiery red-head with zero patience, was getting a boyfriend?

"Er... Well who is this lucky man?"

"Well it's-"

-BOOM-

"Hold that thought!"

I ran outside and lo-and-behold what was the sight that greeted me.

It seemed Philius had decided to take the "Freud Removal" into his own hands. There they were both firing spells at one another in the middle of town...

I had to stop the fight before they missed and hurt someone!

I saw the rubber training arrows that the children used and the idea just fell into my head. Loading them into my bowguns I took aim, one bowgun for each idiot.

I fired. 'Perfect shot' I thought.

Simultaneous cries of pain could be heard.

"Ow! What hit me? Who the- Oh… hi Mercedes…"

"Your highness! I was attempting to rid us of this nuisance."

I was not amused.

"So" I began, "you two thought it would be a great idea to have a magical duel" putting emphasis on magical.

"IN THE MIDDLE OF TOWN? HAD YOU NEVER THOUGHT WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU MISSED? SOMEONE COULD HAVE BEEN SERIOUSLY INJURED YOU BRAINLESS PAIR OF LUPINS! NEXT TIME YOU TRY SOMETHING SO STUPID THINK OF THE CONSEQUENCES!"

All POV

While Freud and Philius cowered under Mercedes' rage, the rest of the town chuckled attheir misfortune. It was a well known fact that you simply never angered the Queen or risk grievous bodily harm or complete degradation, sometimes both.

"Look we're sorry Mercedes, really!"

"Yes, we apologize for our behavior."

Philius resisted to the urge to add "please spare us" to his apology. Her highness' anger was overbearing. The two males disliked one another but right now the important thing was living.

"Come on 'Cedes, please forgive us!"

Oh that was it! Screw living! He had a DUTY!

"Don't address her highness in such a way peasant!"

"Who's a peasant?"

"Oh you heard me!"

They both started to flare their mana in preparation to continue their duel from earlier.

However before they could start firing an ominous killing intent filled the air and it was coming from the furious elven queen.

"You idiots…" she said as she drew her bowguns, "DIDN'T LEARN ANYTHING DID YOU?"

~~~~~Several bouts of pain later~~~~~

Ignoring the corp- er beat up bodies in the corner of the council room, Mercedes and Danika were finishing their conversation.

"So Danika who is it?"

"Well your highness… put bluntly it was who you just beat up…"

Mercedes gasped in shock.

"Oh well, um, Danika I didn't realize..."

"So is it alright your highness? I would like to recieve your blessing."

"O-Of course Danika, although it will be difficult having two elders in a romantic relationship…"

"W-What?"

Mercedes gave her a blank look and tilted her head in confusion.

"You are beginning your courtship with Philius correct?" she asked in a puzzled voice.

"Of course not your highness!"

Wait, of it wasn't Philius then Danika was courting... Freud...?

"You can't be serious Danika, even if you're and elf and he's a human, I have nothing against that really, but an Elder with a senior apprentice?"

"Oh… please your highness?"

Mercedes looked thoughtful, until a smirk showed on her face.

"Alright then, you can court Freud **only** if you face me in a duel."

"OH YES YES YES… wait… WHAT?"

"You heard me Danika, I'll meet you on training ground three in an hour."

And she left Danika gaping like a fish.

~~~~~~~~~~Later~~~~~~~~~~

All POV

An hour later Danika was still having a nervous breakdown.

'Oh what do I do? I don't want to fight her highness but I want to court Freud!'

"Ready Danika?"

"Yes your highness..."

"Then here we go!"

Mercedes started by firing a barrage of arrows at Danika. Four arrows swirling with mana.

Quickly dodging Danika fired an attack back.

'Arrow Blow!'

Smirking Mercedes merely ducked under the attack.

"Not good enough Danika!"

She dashed forward with amazing speed sweeping Danika with her upon impact, finishing with a thrust upward.

'Rising Rush!'

When Danika reached the arc of the throw that's when Mercedes struck again, sending a spray of magical arrows flying towards her.

'Parting Shot!'

Danika fell back towards the ground but only after she had counter-attacked.

'I know Queen Elizabeth (My made up version of Mercedes' mother) never wanted me to use this attack so early on Queen Mercedes, but so be it.

Danika dashed down while bringing six spears of light down with her.

"Gust Dive!" she called.

'Crap!' Mercedes thought, 'using the advanced skills on me, of all the nerve…'

She braced herself for impact. The attack blew her off her feet and she landed several yards away. However Danika had also been injured by Mercedes attack and was currently recovering off to the side.

And that was when the giant shadow covered the sun.

~~~~~Back to Present Time~~~~~

Cards? A swirl of cards came raining down in a twister-esque shape.

And as the twister landed, a figure inside was barely visible. As the cards dissipated so did the figure inside. However he reappeared on one of the rooftops close by.

'What a drama queen' Mercedes thought.

He wasn't going to get away that easily! A familiar feeling of deja vu took Mercedes as she chased the cloaked figure through town.

Her heart skipped a beat when the thief entered her personal chambers, only one thing he could be after. The royal tiara!

Mercedes finally caught up to him as he ran up to the tiara's display.

"Stop thief! Or I will be forced to-"

She was cut off as thief now turned assailant fired a shower of cards at her.

She fired a storm of bright green magical arrows as she used her newest skill.

'Stunning Strikes!' She thought.

The arrows burst through the cards and impacted the figure behind them.

"Yes! Take that!"

She ran through the smoke produced by the impact of the attacks and found…

DUN DUN DUNNN

Yes a cliffhanger. I'm feeling evil today. And also because it felt like this chapter was a little rushed, do you think so?

And no she doesn't find what most of you think she will!

As always constructibe critisism is welcome!

Read and Review Please!

-Lunarfeather


	4. Chapter 4: Complications

**Chapter 4: Complications**

A/N

And here's chapter 4 ladies and gents. Sorry if it seems like the plot is getting a little mixed up. I'll try to explain some things at the end.

Puppet? No... a scarecrow! It was a trick!

"Hahahahaha looks like you've figured it out eh? Nice job destroying a puppet!"

Mercedes growled at the taunting tone.

"You... you won't get away!"

"Oh? I beg to differ, _your highness_" The figure called out tauntingly.

"You'll be begging to LIVE when I catch you!"

"Well it's been fun, but I've got to go. Goodbye for now!"

Mercedes took one last lunge at the figure but missed as he once again became a swirl of cards and retreated to his ship.

Mercedes mentally swore. 'Dammit! You wait thief, I'll definitely catch you, and then you'll rue the day you messed with me!'

She turned around to see, among others, Danika, Philius, and Freud running towards her.

'Here comes the cavalry, only a minute too late to matter… No matter I **will **catch that thief one day!'

'But now' she thought, 'it's time to perform a happier duty…I think…'

"Danika! You wished to court Freud correct? I now grant you my blessing."

There were three gasps, one of happiness, another of surprise; and yet another of outrage.

"Thank you your highness!"

"What?"

"This is insanity!"

Mercedes tilted her head to the side and blinked in confusion.

"Danika, you didn't tell Freud of your intents?"

The elder addressed tried to keep her composure but failed brilliantly as her face skipped pink and went straight to a dark crimson.

"Well I was planning to tell him after I received your blessing…" she mumbled almost inaudibly.

Mercedes sighed, even if she was 26, Danika acted like a child at heart.

"But your highness you said that I had to face you in a duel!"

"And so you did, I never said that you had to win now did I?"

"Oh well no but…"

Danika you wanted to go out with pretty boy here in the first place so why are you complaining?"

Danika seemed to have temporarily forgotten how to speak, until the object of her affections appeared in front of her.

"Are you alright Danika?"

"O-Of course!"

An awkward silence filled the air until Danika finally broke it.

"So Freud would you erm, like to go out?" she squeaked.

"Of course Danika!" he said while smiling.

Mercedes gritted her teeth, 'Of course he flashes that annoyingly perfect smile that makes him look ever so handsome.'

There it was again, that damned twinge in her chest! She would have to get that checked out by Astilda later.

And of course, Freud was seemingly taking this all in stride but inside he was panicking.

'Damnit Phantom! I thought I told you to keep your hands to yourself! And what should I do? I don't want to hurt Danika but I can't get in a relationship with her either!'

A nasty no-win set options.

"Chapter 26: Sub-chapter 10: Clause 46: Rule 1738 of senior apprenticeship: _No personal relationships with any other species as sharing magic secrets, accidentally or on purpose, could threaten the purity of the ancient art of spell-casting. -Grendel the First_"

'Looks like I'll be hearing this from Grendel…' he thought as Danika half dragged him to the park where the children were.

~~~~~~~~~~Meanwhile with Mercedes and Philius~~~~~~~~~~

"Queen Mercedes, in the best interests for this city, Elder Danika and for the alliance, you cannot allow this." as he jabbed his thumb in the direction of the disappearing figures of Danika and Freud.

Mercedes sighed, "I know Philius... I know..."

"Their relationship could ruin- Wait, what did you say?"

"I said I know Philius, but I haven't ever seen Danika so happy. For now let's just let her be."

Philius inspected his Queen's face carefully. Her face held a melancholy smile, while her eyes told of regret. He could guess what that regret was for. Mercedes had long since confessed to him that she was uncomfortable about taking away Danika's childhood. Though there was something else that he couldn't identify in that look…

"Your highness, the longer we let this drag on, the harder it will be for her."

"Yes but I want her to be happy, if only for a short time. Happy moments are sparse enough as it is Philius."

Philius grimaced, it was Mercedes' way to reminding him that the war effort against the Black Magician was not going well. This month alone they had lost parts of El Nath to Von Leon. There were also rumors of a new commander who flew through the air and delivered devastating blows with dark energy.

"Well I suppose it may be for the best you highness… I'll see to it that they aren't bothered by the citizens, much..."

Mercedes gave Philius a thankful look as she stood to return to her chambers. Wearily, she walked slowly back.

"Thank you Philius, now if you'll excuse me I must attend to matters of state."

'No matter how weary I am.' she thought.

Philius sighed, if there was one thing his queen was not it was negligent. People always wondered why he, an advisor to the previous queen, would serve such a young ruler. There was a very simple reason. Her thoughts were always towards her people, that was why he would serve her, as best he could to the limit that life would allow.

~~~~~~~~~~Meanwhile~~~~~~~~~~

'Phew, that was nerve wracking.' thought Freud.

He felt like he was on an operation table as he had walked through Elluel. He tried to convince himself that this was a normal occurrence, that people were simply staring at Danika, but he couldn't quite pull it off.

Yet finally after dragging him from the park, to the market, and through a few stores, it was over. He had just said goodbye to Danika who had looked like she was on cloud 9.

Wasn't a date supposed to make you happy? Yet all he felt was exhaustion. Too bad his work wasn't done. He had one more thing to do.

He grabbed his wand from his robe pocket and concentrated mana into it, time to have a little talk with a certain infamous thief.

Calling on the power of his partner Freud casted his spell, 'Dragon Blink.'

He got the familiar feeling of being compressed into an infinitely small point as he teleported and was dropped onto an ornate white and gold ship. The Lumiere.

"Phantom! Come on out here we need to talk!"

Freud was greeted with a chilling silence. 'Fine' he thought, 'we'll do this the annoying way.'

He walked up to the door to the ship and tried to open it, predictably it was locked, unpredictably were the rigged spears flying at him from above. Freud grimaced, a trap, and worse, a purely physical one.

Freud once again concentrated, focusing fire mana. A magic circle formed facing the spears and a small ball with something resembling a face flew at the spears.

"Fire Demon!" And the small ball seemed to smirk as the flames devoured the spears in an inferno of heat.

But he wasn't done, instead he turned his wand on the door to the ship. This time he concentrated ice mana. "Ice Demon!" Instead of flames, ice burst out of the now blue magical circle and burst through the doorway.

Freud strode through the doorway, careful of any traps. "Now will you come out Phantom? We need to talk."

"About what my friend?" came a deep voice from behind Freud.

"Phantom! Don't do that!"

"Do what?" He asked innocently while his eyes sparkled with amusement.

Freud sighed with exasperation, he seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

"You know what? Never mind, but we need to talk about what you did today."

"You have said that before my friend, but about what?"

'Oh so that's how it's going to be is it?' Freud thought, 'Well then let the games begin.'

"Well Phantom you steal any jewelry today?"

Phantom smirked, Freud had fallen for it.

"Other than your girlfriend's little crown Freud, I haven't stolen anything in weeks!"

"What?"

"I know! Why just last week they were displaying the Skaia, the fabled, "Treasure of Ereve," in honor of Empress Aria's birthday. And even if it's a dismally obvious trap, it was quite tempting…"

"No not that!"

"Then what?"

"Phantom, Mercedes is not my girlfriend!"

"Oh already on a first name basis? None of that her highness, or Queen Mercedes?"

Freud rolled his eyes, he would never win an argument against Phantom.

"Enough, what I came to do is ask that you return the tiara."

"Hmm, I don't think I will Freud. You see what a thief steals is his until he chooses to give it back or…" he droned as he pulled out the tiara, "somebody is able to steal it back from him."

"Are you going to be difficult? If you are we know where this is going."

Phantom almost tripped from his pacing. He had forgotten, even Freud could be serious.

"Afrien is only a chant away Phantom, and he hates thieves."

Phantom looked as if somebody had ruined his first magic trick.

"I hate that dragon, he and his arrogance, we never see eye to eye."

"Obviously, last time you two saw each other we had to rebuild part of my house."

"And yet, despite knowing this you'll summon him?"

"It's your ship Phantom."

The self-proclaimed, "Master of Thieves" took a moment to mull it over.

'Now what's worth it? Fun with the Elf Queen at the cost of ship repairs… actually no, ship replacement. Or give Freud the tiara…'

"Fine" he finally said, "It's yours, catch."

Freud stumbled as he caught the tiara, and almost dropped it as he fell to the ground.

"Phantom!"

"What?"

"This thing is heavy!"

Phantom snickered, this was almost worth giving the tiara back.

"Ah something the great Freud doesn't know."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Equipment meant for other classes, or in this case, specialized equipment, can only be used by the original user."

"You're saying Mercedes wears this thing into battle every time she fights?"

"Idiot, it's not nearly as heavy to her as it is to you. The tiara was designed for her after all."

"Whatever, it stills weighs a load..."

"Better get it back to your girlfriend, prince charming."

Freud flushed a bright red color. "She's not my girlfriend!"

Phantom looked at Freud skeptically.

'Poor guy, he's really completely whipped, he just doesn't know it yet.'

But Phantom had already disappeared into his ship.

A/N

So here are some things that may confuse you.

Freud does have Afrien as a partner, he (Afrien) Just hasn't made an appearance yet.

2. This is still a MercedesxFreud fic, but it's a boring plotline (at least I think so) if there isn't any conflict so sorry for any confusion.

3. There will be other pairings in this but they aren't being revealed yet. :)

Anyways hope you enjoyed it. Read and Review

-Lunarfeather

P.S. If you have any questions about this fic you can PM me from my profile.


	5. Chapter 5: Knucklehead, meet Spellboy

**Chapter 5: Knucklehead, meet Spell Boy**

Sorry about the slight delay with this chapter. I had a busy week, next one will come out sooner. Hopefully...

**Luvitianus(Guest):** Thank's for the help, I'll try to cut down a bit more on those errors. Although I am aware that Victoria was largely unpopulated at the time, I feel this story would be much easier to tell as well as understand for other people.

**LadyMelodyLily:** Yes Magic Flare. It was always one of my favorite skills for evans. Simplistic yet looks nice: =0

**~~~~~~~~~~Start~~~~~~~~~~**  
Wind whipped in my face as Ryko carried me over the plains. Beautiful as they were, I had to admit I prefered the icy tundra more the deep waves of the frigid ocean and reflecting sheets of ice. Ah how I wished to be there now, unfortunately I had some business to attend to.

And I had better get to my destination quick seeing as how the sun was already halfway through its journey through the sky.

"Come on Ryko! Let's go boy, we're on a time limit here."

My partner heard me and started to speed up as the plains disappeared and we came into a deep wooded area, Ellinia, home of the fairies.

**~~~~~~~~~~With Mercedes~~~~~~~~~~**

A certain blonde royal was making her way out of town for a walk after a particularly vicious round of paperwork, completely evil papers…

Mercedes POV

After about 6 hours of grueling work I finally took a break and decided to go for a walk. Luckily I knew a secret way past the gates or else Philius would be nagging me in the morning.

The forest around me was quiet and peaceful, the occasional slime or fairy would make it's appearance but nothing more.

The serene grace of Ellinia's lush foliage calmed me more then any words or medicine ever would. Our beautiful Maple World would be destroyed by the Black Mage if he wasn't stopped. Unfortunately the current heroes only included Freud and myself. I knew of another who might be considered but I hadn't seen him for months now.

And as I thought about this, it distracted me from noticing a rather speedy and quiet approach from behind me.

"BOO!"

In a second my bowguns were out and aimed at the neck of a certain polearm wielding knucklehead.

All POV

As Aran (as you all probably know by now.) snuck up behind Mercedes he was wondering what luck he had. Mercedes was NEVER this out of it!

"Boo!"

And it only took about half a second for him to find a bowgun pointed at his face and neck.

Mercedes was surpised to say the least. "Aran! Why are you here?"

For a moment her eyes reflected pleasant surprise, then they hardened.

"Of course that's all the more reason to fire. You annoying twit…"

"W-Wait! Don't shoot, I bring a message this time from Chief Koori!"

Mercedes narrowed her eyes, so now the old man wants to play diplomacy eh?

"Fine, hand it over, we'll see what the chief has to say now that he's lost a few warriors the Black Mage."

Aran gritted his teeth at the insult to his comrades.

"They weren't just some warriors Mercedes, they were brave souls on the field of battle. They died for the village, their families, and their sacred honor.*"

"Hmmm...? It all sounds very heroic doesn't it. But in the end it changes nothing, at best the Root Alliance will gain an ally it was already expecting. Their deaths changes nothing."

The tension was oppressing, both were at eachother's throats. Literally, Aran had taken out his polearm, Maha, and it's blade was dangerously close. Likewise, Mercedes simply needed a twitch of her finger to fire a magic arrow through Aran's throat.

"Enough you two, this argueing isn't what we need right now."

And like a rubber band being stretched, the force rebounded on the one who let it go.

They both glared intensely at Freud, their own arguement forgotten. If looks could kill, everything around Freud would be dead.

"What do you know damn magician, the warriors of my tribe gave up their lives to fight for their world, and this stuck up royal pain decided she would mock them for their noble sacrifice."

"And you're saying you're not?"

"What?!"

"You think those noble warriors would want you to waste time argueing and threatening the chance of a an alliance which would protect their village?"

Aran seemed to have run out of steam with his arguement at this point, Freud had a point after all.

"And Mercedes you apologize to Aran, I know what happened in the past," at this Mercedes glare made her blue eyes look like chips of ice, Freud ignored her and continued, "but that doesn't mean you can disregard others in a similar situation."

Mercedes' eyes were shaded by her hair as she didn't respond.

"One more thing, you might want this back."

Freud produced, to general amazement of the Elven Queen, the Royal Tiara from his pocket.

With as much poise as she could muster at the moment, she walked up and took the tiara from Freud's hands and left without a word.

And that was that.

**~~~~~~~~~~Somewhere over Maple World~~~~~~~~~~**

"Master, I must insist, for your own good, that you at least attempt to train yourself."

"Oh calm yourself Gaston I can hold my own already."

"Master you were almost caught by the Elven Queen not two days ago and yet you sit here slacking off."

Phantom merely gave Gaston a bored look an returned to his seemingly favorite pastime as of late: gazing for hours on end into a spinning card on his finger that he himself could see.

And then the floor beneath the luxurious couch he was lying on opened up beneath him and dropped him into a 20 foot hole.

"GASTON!"

"Yes Master Phantom?"

"LET ME OUT OF HERE!"

Gaston, seemingly unfazed, flipped a switch on the wall labeled, "Special Training Menu."

"Sorry Master but this is for your own good."

"THE HELL IT IS!" Phantom screamed as he ran from about 20 giant orange mushrooms.*

"Just know Master, the faster you get this done the more time you have to do what you please."

"DEVIL, DEMON, EVIILLLLL!"

"See you later Master." Gaston calmly replied

As he strolled away, Gaston ran into a certain information gatherer.

"Ah Collette, anything to report?"

"Yes Gaston, may I ask if you know where Master Phantom is?"

Gaston scratched his head, on one hand not telling the master immediately may result in another, as he liked to call them, Phant-o-rant. On the other hand the master might ask Collette to let him out. Then he thought of a solution.

"Let us go see Master Phantom together shall we?"

And so they began they walk back to the training pit where they heard the end of Phantom's epic struggle eith he mushrooms.

"Blason Phantome!"

And the last mushroom was slashed apart by his attack.

"Ah Gaston, Collette, wonderful timing what's going on?"

Collette stepped forward.

"Well boss, we have once again found the location of the Skaia."

**~~~~~~~~~~End~~~~~~~~~~**

**A/N**

And that's chapter 5 everybody, hope you enjoyed it!

Read and Review Please!

-Lunarfeather

P.S. I have no clue why but sometimes linebreaks don't appear where I want them to...


	6. Chapter 6: Of Thieves and Royalty

**Chapter 6: Of Thieves and Royalty**

**Phantom's POV**

Damn… how did I end up fighting this guy again? It wasn't my job to protect the Empress; I was trying to steal from her in the first place! Those knights need to learn to do their job.

Here he comes with another attack, can't dodge, time to counter!

"Mille Carte."

And as the stream of one thousand cards blocked and blinded my opponent, I swapped out myself for a puppet.

Luckily he had fallen for it, and as he blasted through my distraction, he found my cards flying at him from multiple directions.

"Calling Card!"

There was a giant cloud of smoke that obscured my vision as they all impacted.

**~~~~~~~~~~Some Hours Prior~~~~~~~~~~**

**All POV**

"The Skaia you say, well Freud would be mad but… it's worth it." Phantom's eyes gleamed with anticipation at the new challenge.

Gaston simple rolled his eyes at the immaturity his Master showed.

"Master, if you go to steal something every time valuables show up, why did you even bother to make the promise to Sir Freud in the first place?

"Come Gaston, this is the Skaia, the treasure of Ereve. No doubt it's a trap to lure me in. However that just makes the challenge all the more fun!"

Gaston sighed in exasperation. "Master, what if you are caught." Even if he was fighting a losing battle he might as well try.

"Then I just won't get caught Gaston!"

Of course…

"In any case, Collette, where is the Skaia!"

"Master Phantom, it's being put on display in Ereve.

"Well then why are we not on a course to Ereve? Gaston, I'll need you to do the usual for me please.

Collette went to inform Renault of the course change, while Gaston went to prepare the needed supplies, robes, cane, cards, and battle equipment in general.

This time he would acquire the Skaia without fail, for he was the Master Thief, Phantom!

**~~~~~~~~~~In Ereve~~~~~~~~~~**

"Gilehart, when are we putting the Skaia on display again?"

A reply came from a man in the corner with green eyes, and even more strikingly, icy blond hair.

"We are planning to display it from about 11:00 A.M. to about 7:00 P.M. Empress."

The young woman with straight platinum blonde hair who had posed the question seemed slightly miffed at the formality.

"Gilehart, I thought I told you to stop calling me, "Empress" and to just call me Aria."

"But Emp-" She shot him an annoyed look, "my apologies, A-Aria." the complete opposite of his sovereign, the man called Gilehart seemed pained at the lack of formality.

"In any case Gilehart, I must get ready so if you would be so kind as to leave the room for moment..."

"Of course Emp- er Aria."

**~~~~~~~~~~3 hours later~~~~~~~~~~**

Nervously, the young woman called Aria was walking out onto the large stadium that served as Ereve's stadium for large events.

"Ladies and Gentleman, Lords and Ladies, I present to you... Empress Aria!"

And she walked on to the stage.

**Aria's POV**

As I listened, waiting for my name to be called, my heart started pounding. What was I thinking, walking out into a stadium filled with people!

'Ok Aria' I thought to myself, 'calm down, it's just people… a gargantuan stadium filled to capacity with over 2000 people watching you, waiting for you to slip up, just wanting pounce… oh! This isn't helping!'

As I paced around I accidentally bumped into someone… Scratch that, a very _very_ attractive someone…

"Are you alright Miss?"

Messy blond hair much like my own hidden under a hat. Regal formal clothes befitting one of my position. But most of all were his eyes. The mischievous glint in the blue eyes topped off his look.

I quickly realized that he had been staring at me awaiting an answer while I gave him what I liked to call, "An Empress' once over."

"Yes of course, and yourself sir?"

A silly question to say the least, he hadn't even swayed at my crashing into him

"If you don't mind me saying Miss, your figure is barely enough to topple a pile of pillows much less a grown male human."

Well he didn't have to be so rude about it! Unfortunately I didn't have time to give him a piece of my mind before my name was called, but who was this guy anyways?

**~~~~~~~~~Aria's Speech~~~~~~~~~~**

**All POV**

"Citizens of Maple World. I am ecstatic to be standing before you all today."

No response so far.

"Now there are much more important things to exchange here other than greetings. The economy for one of the world is dropping…"

And so the typical drabble was given as the speech took to its end.

"And so we arrive at a more pressing subject today, the Black Mage."

The crowd seemed to draw a collective breath as the words came out of the young Empress' mouth.

"I have volunteered to enter peace talks with one the Black Mage's commanders."

The stadium seemed to have all at once exploded with different emotions. Disappointment, betrayal, surprise, outrage, confusion, and most prominently, anger.

"You cannot be serious Empress."

"It is no more than a trick!"

The protests persisted and increased until a loud crash interrupted them.

**Phantom's POV**

Ha, peace talks with the Black Mage, what kind of crazy Empress did we have these days? Especially when there was that suspicious looking hooded person in the corner? A wonder how criminals always think black clothing would hide them, even in a WHITE STADIUM.

In any case, my eye told me that the one with the Skaia was… the Empress?

Well this complicates things a little bit, but no matter.

More importantly that guy is now rushing down towards the floor, obviously planning to attack the Empress. Damnit, I'd rather not get involved with this, but he could damage the Skaia! Or at least that's what my head told me.

I then sent out a wave of mana towards where the Empress was.

"Magic Guard!"

'Thank you Freud.' I thought to myself*

**~~~~~~~~~~Back to present time~~~~~~~~~~**

And as the smoke cleared, I found him rushing at me with a blue sheen around him, Magic Guard…

"Darkness Stream!"

I leaped back as he fired a wave of dark energy.

"Get some more creativity, that's all you villains do, fire darkness!"

He didn't seem to appreciate my advice as he started striking at me once again.

Dodge, jump, duck, dive, fire back. My mind was on auto-pilot as I fought. Whoever this person was, they were good, I could barely keep up!

Couldn't keep this up for long, I could feel my arms turning to lead.

"Getting tired?" he taunted.

I gritted my teeth, 'just ignore him.' I thought while dodged a stab of his sword that nearly impaled me.

Despite my best efforts, it was obvious that a long fight would not be in my best interest. He could decide to attack the, at this point, defenseless Empress at his leisure, and I wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Time to end this.

I started up my final attack, first to get my attack power up, my cane changed into a dagger as I prepared to use a skill I had stolen from a fellow less talented thief the other day.

Mystic symbols decorated the air behind me, "Channel Karma."

And as I charged forward, I marked my opponent with my symbols.

"Blason Phantome!"

And I had won, thank goddess. My enemy was blown away by my attack, multiple cuts appearing on his body as he retreated. I would be so caught up in my victory in fact, that I didn't notice the chain of dark energy as his last attack, stab into my side.

The last thing I heard before I slipped into unconsciousness would be a scream and many footsteps.

**~~~~~~~~~~End~~~~~~~~~~**

**A/N**

Yeah… sorry Phantom is invincible fans, it wasn't meant to be. On the other hand there was some PhantomxAria in this one; if you squinted…

I know there were A LOT of POV changes in this one, I just noticed that as I as writing, sorry but just bear with me here. .

Besides that, yes Phantom's crew is the same, I'm working under a creative license here and saying that they were frozen with him. Think elves frozen along with Mercedes type deal.

Read and Review Please! =D

-Lunarfeather


	7. Chapter 7: Darkness Rising,Fated Meeting

**Chapter 7: Darkness Rising**

**~~~~~~~~~~Continued from Last Chapter~~~~~~~~~~**

'Uhn… my head, my side, my arm, my legs, scratch that, my whole body…'

The last thing I remembered before I passed out was… The Empress! Where was she! As I sat up I felt a sharp pain in my side.

"Please sit down sir… Phantom… your wound is not yet healed."

The voice came from the opening of the doorway of the white medical room that he was in. The Empress. Time for his best, "charm the lady" show.

"Why hello there Empress!" He said in an excessively cheery voice.

"Do **not**try to charm me, thief!"

Well it's not like he wasn't expecting them to know his identity. He only had the highest bounty in the Maple World on his head.

"Oh Empress why would you think so badly of me?"

Her eyes narrowed in distrust, she was almost decieved by his looks and charms! Thank goddess Gilehart had warned her.  
**  
~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~**

"Empress, you must not help him!"

"But Gilehart! He protected me with all of his strength, he was brutally injured for me!"

Gilehart had run into the medical ward where Empress Aria was personally attending to the hero, now turned villain in his eyes.

"Empress he is a menace! He is no less then the nefarious thief Phantom!"

Aria gasped, Phantom? The Phantom they had been trying to lure in for months now? The thief who had stolen not only the crown jewels Ariant but also burglurized the Elves?

"Call a different healer, I need to be alone."

"Of course Empress."

A thief, her hero had been a thief. Her charming gentleman, a thief. Damn it all!

**~~~~~~~~~~Flashback End~~~~~~~~~~**

"Well only that you are the most infamous thief to ever be known over the Maple World."

"Ah my reputation precedes me Empress." he replied with a smirk.

It was infuriating, she was shown reverence and respect wherever she went, so why was this thief able to speak to her this way?

"Because I'm a thief."

"What?"

"You were wondering why I talk so casually to you, well it's because I'm a thief, I have no respect for authority figures."

"Th-That's!"

"Oh please Empress no need to be so flustered, you're turning red in the face."

Oh how this man infuriated her! She could carry out an argument as well as the next ruler but something about this man was… different.

"Yoo hoo, I'm still here."

"I know that, you don't have to be so insufferable! You are in prison."

"Tell me Empress." Phantom completely ignored her protest. "Do you ever feel caged? A ruler in only name?"

"W-What are you talking about?" Though Phantom's words were frighteningly accurate to Aria.

"Woops just missed…" Phantom had just tried to take a half-hearted swipe at the Skaia which had been hanging from Aria's neck.

"How dare you!? This is a sacred artifact." She had to keep up the pretense after all.

"Well because that's what I came here for obviously. Why else would I come?"

"Ha, so Gilehart was right, the, "Master Thief" Phantom can't even see what's bait and what's not."

"No, really I knew there would be guards, but that would make it all the more fun."

"Y-You…!" She turned her back to him. "What kind of gentleman is so rude to a lady?" She said expecting a response. There was none.

'Hmph, fine.' She thought.

In any case he would have to stay in that room until- eh? Where had he gone?! A note had been left where he was sitting.

"Dear Empress, you are much too easily distracted. Never turn your back to a thief, especially me. -Phantom"

The day was noted as the day Empress Aria finally snapped, turning Gilehart into a steaming pile of flesh and bone when he asked what had happened.

'I swear I'll get him someday!' She thought furiously as her knights gave her a wide berth.

**-Somewhere in Von Leon's Castle-**

Footsteps could be heard coming down the dank hallway heading towards the main dining room of Von Leon's castle.

'What a pointless waste of time…'

The person continued walking down the hallway and stopped at the door. He could feel the sickening energy inside and knew that _he_was in there.

'What a disgustingly stiffling presence.'

He opened the doors and walked in.

"Good evening Valfor" came and all too velvet covered greeting.

"Hello… Arcarium, good evening to you as well Von Leon, Lotus, Orchid." He greeted each in turn.

They were all seated, the Black Mages most powerful commanders all in one place.

"Please help yourself to anything." Came to gruff voice of Von Leon.

The spread on the table was fit for a king. Stir fried vegetables in a créme sauce, various seafood along the table, and a large chicken adorned the center.

"No thank you, let us move on to the order of business."

How he hated these people, selling their soul to the Black Mage for power.

"Very well then, today we are gathered here in order to begin our further expansion of his lordship's empire. We will soon enter battle against the Root alliance forces on the edge of the El Nath mountains."

This coming from the drawling mouth of Arkarium, nobody else seemed to care to try mediating the meetings.

"The one to lead this attack will be…"

"**Will be you, Valfor.**"

Everybody around the table other then Valfor and Arkarium stiffened at the voice.

'How pathetic, they claim to be allies but stiffen with pressure at his voice…'

"It will be my honor." As he lied through his teeth.

**-Battlefield-**

"Charge!" came the cry of a commander. The Black Mage's Army was making slow but steady progress across the mountains of El Nath.

"Stop them my fellow knights!" Though the brave Knights of Aria were fighting around the clock to stop them. The Dawn Warrior's sent spinning blades of soul energy across the battlefield to decimate the enemies front lines.

"Fire back with your arrows." came the order of the opposing commander.

"Blaze Wizard's forward!" Shower's of meteors came to counter the arrow's that had been fired, burning them to pieces and further breaking apart the opposing army.

**-Black Mage Command Tent-**

"We can't hold the line any longer, we must retreat." Came the voice of a tactician. A hand made of shadows came forward to seize him.

"Retreat?" Came the voice of Valfor. "You are all a disgrace... Allowing those weaklings to push you around!"

The other officers nearly tripped over one another to bow to him.

"I will take the battlefield, tell the soldiers to assume flanking formation, provide support from the rear with our siege weapons. Have the mage's counter any spells that may be an attempt to slow me."

Yes he would fight and win, he knew he would, for nobody could stand in the way of his burning fury.

**-Battlefield-**

"We have driven them back! Now push!" came the cry of knights' commander. The Black Mage's army was retreating to the sides.

Or so they thought...

A blast of pure sound erupted from somewhere in front of the knights, blowing them all back and knocking some of them out. As the dust cleared, all the knights looked to see... a single man. But he was different, pale skin with blood red eyes. And most of all his wings... large purple bat-like wings, rotting with the evil energy placed inside them. And the most horrifying sight of all, was when the man leapt and soared toward's them, a hawk hunting it's prey.

"Judgement..." Before spikes burst forth from the ground, injuring some and killing others.

"Skilled knights, to the front, everybody else retreat!" The order was issued, but the panic was too much.

'A single blow and they are already defeated... how pathetic.' Valfor thought. "Nonetheless they must be destroyed I suppose..." Almost bored, he attacked with frightening efficiency, using his wings to obtain a birds eye view of the battlefield and finding which targets had the most people in them. Finally a group became organized enough to strike back, a group of obviously skilled knights.

"Shark Wave!"

"Meteor Shower!"

"Soul Driver!"

"Hurricane Spike!"

"Avenger!"

The five attacks hurtled towards Valfor and collided with a massive explosion.

"We got him!" shouted the Thunder Breaker. The other's nodded in agreement, nothing could have survived an attack like that.

"How weak..." They gasped, he had somehow teleported in between them. "Chaos Lock" The five were all binded in place. "Demon Cry!" The wave of sound blew them into their own rapidly retreating army, being bombarded by the siege weapons of the Black Mage.

Again stood the lone figure of Valfor, this time surrounded by the bodies of his enemies. Pity those who got in his way as he walked back towards his army.

"I will fight... and I will win... for my family..."

**-Lumiere-**

"I told you Master! But do you ever listen to me? Nooooo! It's always, do this Gaston, fetch that Gaston, don't worry Gaston. This time you were nearly done for!"

Phantom opted to not listen to the rambling voice of his butler reprimanding him. Instead he thought of the Empress, she was curious, nobody else talked to him like that. Usually they were too busy reaching for a weapon or something to call the authority's with. She interested him.

"Gaston." He said in one of his butler's pauses to breathe.

"What?"

"I believe that I have found my next great theft." He announced.

Gaston groaned, what had he done in his former life to deserve this?

**-End-**

**A/N**

Poor Gaston…

In any case, I apologize profusely for not updating sooner. I got caught up in some other things. School being one of them. (Damn AP History…) Forgive me please!

-Hides in bunker-

Read and Review please!

-Lunarfeather


	8. Chapter 8: Crushing Defeat & Betrayal?

Chapter 9: Crushing Defeat and... Betrayal?

_'How could this have happened...' _The thoughts ran through Freud's head as he received news of the now concluded battle near the mountains of El Nath. According to the report he was reading, Aria's knights had been at a clear advantage before some kind of _beast _had swept down with his moving shadows and decimated them.

_'It sounds like the rumors that we've been hearing about a single dark warrior.' _The matter had been discussed at length during the last Root meeting, nobody had known much except that the shadows and somehow, sound, around this attacker could be used as a weapon. This fact worried the brown-haired man as he sat in one of the many meeting rooms located in Elluel.

The doors to the room suddenly flew open and slammed into the walls with a bang, making the mage jump in surprise.

"Freud..." Mercedes walked in, speaking in an uncharacteristically sickly sweet voice. "Where are the reports that you have taken from the war room without my permission?"

The tentative tone in her voice held a thinly veiled threat that left nothing to Freud's imagination as to what she would do to him if he didn't hand the papers that were in front of him over.

"R-Right here 'Cedes..." He slowly gathered up the papers, the shuffling noises amplified ten-fold in the tense silence, before getting up to hand them over to the Elf Queen. She didn't reply as she took the papers and began to look them over, Freud started to walk out the door before he felt his collar being seized.

"Who said you could go already? I need your opinion on these still, knuckle-headed spell boy you may be, but you're still a part of this war and I expect some contribution."

Her eyes seemed to say _'or else...' _Freud sighed in relief as he turned to walk back in... before being struck on the back of the head.

Freud, who hadn't been expecting it, wheeled around holding his head with small tears playing in the corners of his eyes. "W-Why did you hit me?!"

Mercedes had a rather satisfied smirk on her face as she watched the mage turn around, his face was really cute when he looked like that... No, she wasn't allowed to be like this, not now...

_'I could really get used to seeing that... Wait... what? I'm not some kind of sick masochist!'_Freud panicked in his head.

A silence followed as the two were lost in there thoughts, one becoming slightly depressed, the other mentally panicking.

"S-So, what's your recommendation for this situation anyways?" Merecedes asked, sitting herself down into a chair.

Freud quickly pulled one out opposite. "Well, we'll have to know for ourselves, a, and I'm quoting here, 'pale man with bat wings' isn't exactly the best thing to make a strategy off of..."

"Still... I don't have time to do this, I have to be here waiting for _Aran's_" She hissed the name out rather contemptuously. "Reply from Chief Koori."

Despite her dislike for the white-haired warrior, ignoring relations to the tribe in Rein would only result in the loss of another ally, something that nobody would be soon to forget if she let it happen.

Freud sighed heavily. "If only we had a few more hands around here..." Things had been getting a bit rough the past few weeks, the war was taking a turn for the worse, not to mention it was getting harder and harder to manage.

"Don't keep stressing over it, doing that will just make everything harder. Right now lets consolidate our forces in El Nath village, the Black Mage shouldn't attack for the next few days, not after they were just damaged. Meanwhile we'll travel to meet up with Aran halfway and than we can go immediately to El Nath from there to check out the situation."

Freud stared incredulously at the Elven Queen. "Do you have any idea how long that's going to take...?"

"None at all."

"What?"

Freud found himself lifted out of the chair by the blonde. "Dragon. Magic. Teleport. Understand?"

His face flushed, of course he would have forgotten about his own power. "O-Of course I do!" he spluttered indignantly.

The look on Mercedes' face clearly thought otherwise but she didn't say anything. Instead she opted to work out more of the plans.

"I'm going to leave Philius in charge while I'm gone, be at the gates in an hour, pack warmly, Rein and El Nath are cold places." She swept up the documents with her hands and took them with her as she left the room, leaving a slack-jawed brown haired mage behind her.

"She can't be serious..." But sure enough, he had learned to take the Elf Queen seriously over the years, whether she sounded ridiculous or not, and so he began to walk towards the exit of the town until he realized something.

_'Right, mage. Teleport...'_

A small flash of blue light could be seen as the Dragon Master of the generation blinked to his home that was located in the fairy town of Ellinia.

-1 Hour Later-

"Ready to go? We're leaving either way though."

Freud sighed, he carried a light traveling bag on his shoulder's, enough for 2 days away from home. This shouldn't take excessively long if they were smart about it.

"Yes I'm ready, now take my hand." Freud held out his arm for Mercedes to grab, she wordlessly took it as the mage concentrated his mana. For Mercedes the highly unpleasant sensation of being compressed began as a blue light surrounded them both and they vanished only to appear moments later in the glacial country of Rein.

"It's always too damn cold here..." All too soon the cold had closed in on the pair as they let go of each other's hands; Mercedes walked forward slightly to survey where they had landed and compare it to a map she had taken from her traveling bag.

"The village should be located to the north of here, I can feel a larger concentration of mana than normal." Freud offhandedly said this as he surveyed the surrounding area. Luckily there wasn't a blizzard running through at the moment, and the snow covered fur trees dotted the landscape.

"Let's get going than..." A grim look was on Mercedes' face as she headed towards the village, she obviously wasn't looking forward to seeing Aran again.

The two continued on as they searched for the village, heading steadily for the direction that Freud had pointed out earlier, they soon arrived at what seemed to be a large cave. The structure itself was remarkable enough, glittering with the sunlight reflecting off of it, but there was no tribe.

"...Freud." Though a smile shone on her face, Mercedes was anything but amused.

Freud quivered under her gaze. "Y-Yes?"

"This is not where the tribe is located."

"I can see that..."

"You're useless." she deadpanned, causing the recipient to flinch as if he had been struck. "We'll have to find ano-"

*BOOM*

A large crashing sound had sounded as Mercedes spoke, causing the pair to give one another a look and than rush off in the general direction it came from, what they came upon was not what they had been counting on.

"Why... are we cursed with out luck?"

"Stop complaining pretty-boy, just get ready to fight..."

The two had stopped in front of what had to be a little over a dozen Yeti's, each one almost 3 times as tall as them with enormous strength and a ridiculous amount of vitality.

"Got it, it's troublesome that we don't have a close ranged fighter though."

"It's fine, they'll never hit even if they get close enough."

"Easy for you to say Miss Acrobat..." Freud muttered under his breath.

The Yeti's rushed at them blindly, a terrifying sight to most as the beasts flung themselves, roaring loudly, but for the two heroes who had seen much worse on battlefields, this was just a practice session.

-Lumiere-

"I've got it!"

Gaston, who had been making tea at the time, jumped and almost cursed as hot liquid spilled over onto the tray. What on earth did his boss figure out now?!

"Gaston I've really out done myself this time!" Phantom on the other hand was borderline ecstatic over his "discovery." What it was about only he knew.

"What is it master...?" Gaston said warily, over the years he had grown used to not blindly accepting Phantom's plans; a rather useful skill when you were in the employ of someone who went into known traps for fun.

Rolling his eyes as if it was obvious, Phantom went on to explain in a condescending tone. "I know how I'm going to pull off my next theft of course."

Gaston groaned, he already knew of his master's ridiculous notion of taking the Skaia directly from the Empress. He was as tired of it as he was skeptical that even Phantom would be able to do something so seemingly impossible.

"Do tell master..." he said to the eccentric man on in the chair, though inwardly he was cursing himself for asking.

"Of course! Now it's like this..."

-1 Hour Later-

Gaston was floored, this was a new all time low... or high depending on how you saw it.

"You're not serious are you master...?"

The smirking grin answered him.

-End-

A/N

And the first chapter in a hell of a long time, business as usual in my life. Hopefully I'll be getting back to writing for awhile, I do enjoy it, just haven't had much time recently. I'm hoping to bring back all the readers!

R&R Please! =D

-Lunarfeather


	9. Chapter 9: Illogical

A/N

I have just realized that I had the last chapter as Chapter 9, my bad guys/girls...

Chapter 9: Illogical

"Leaf Storm!"

The clear voice called over the howling wind as the veritable maelstrom of magical arrows rained down to impale themselves in the flesh of the Yeti's, the origin of these arrows still whirling around rapidly in the air before landing on the ground rather dramatically.

"Fire Demon!"

The attack blew by as it smashed into the 2 Yeti's that had lumbered up behind Mercedes as she wasn't watching.

A small smirk showed itself on Freud's face as the Queen whipped around. "Better pay attention." the bright comment was met with nothing but 2 bright green Stunning Strikes that embedded themselves in another Yeti.

The arctic wind blew by as the last Yeti fell to the ground with a resounding crash that echoed throughout mostly bare surroundings. Two figures stood in the middle of the beasts that had fallen around them. One male and one female, both dressed in winter traveling cloaks that whipped around in the harsh gale that buffeted them even as they stood in the middle of the monsters that they had just taken out.

"Well... that was a decent exercise don't you think? I was getting a little complacent with nothing but the slimes near Ellinia." The first signs of conversation came from the brown haired male who was holding a staff in his hands that ended in a circular shape with a shining blue crystal inside of it.

"Maybe for you, I've been keeping up with my training even during this time of inactivity. Only foolish people let their guards down. That's the 4th batch of them that following your 'sense' has lead us to." She chided; still the other didn't seem to take her very seriously.

"Oh lighten up, besides we still need to find where Aran is, that fight took a good chunk of time; the sun is already beginning it's decent." And indeed the large yellow orb of light in the sky had already passed it's zenith a good while ago.

Not responding, Mercedes decided to shoot a quick glare at the mage, daring him to comment further on their predicament before looking back at the map they had brought with them; following Freud's "sense" had proved to be ineffective, leading them only to life, not necessarily the kind of life they were looking for.

Finally she spoke. "Come one, further north, coming from what I can decipher from this the camp should be past those iceberg's over there." The elf's finger pointed at a rather large iceberg in the distance, still at least half an hour's walk away.

Not daring to complain Freud simply trudged along behind the Queen as she stubbornly made her way through the storm, disregarding the discomfort of her companion, as well as the fact that she, despite the cloak, was rather inappropriately dressed for the weather.

Freud sighed heavily. "She's going to get herself completely sick doing that..."

Not missing a beat, said elf whipped around to glare at Freud. "What was that?!"

"Nothing..." the muttered reply came, he wasn't really in the mood to argue with her... and he was terrified of retribution.

"Good." came the rapt reply. "Because I don't need to hear another preaching about how I'm behaving improperly as a Queen."

"I never said anyth-" Freud scrambled to stop talking as the baleful glare from Mercedes was enough indication that she was about to cause serious injury to him lest he shut up.

The two continued forward, now surrounded by an uncomfortable silence besides the fact that the wind was constantly blowing. Neither wanted to comment on how much further they still had to talk to get to the camp.

'Damn Freud you really know how to schmooze your way into people's good favor huh...?' He silently berated himself as they moved on, not knowing when they would arrive.

* * *

Aran was having a good day. He had finished his chores for the day, Ryko was in a good mood after they had gone out for a walk together, and the chief had called him for an important meeting today which was where he was headed to now.

'I wonder what it's going to be about...' he thought to himself, continuing on his path through the "camp," rather it was large enough to be called a village if you wanted to. The small children were finishing up the day's chores and going out to play with one another, the small stalls lined the roads, selling anything from produce to weapons.

Aran took note of these things while he looked at the small glimmering crystal trinket on his wrist, a small amount of light that filtered through it began to bend until it showed a time: 11:27. The meeting was to take place at 11:30. 'If I'm late... the chief is gonna rip me a new one...'

Breaking into a run, Aran didn't notice when a cloaked figure walked out from a side street, crashing into him and sending them both flying into the ground.

"Sorry! Gotta run!" Aran quickly got up before dashing forwards again, not stopping to find out just who he had bumped into.

"Wait a minute you bastard!" Surprisingly enough, the cloaked figure gave chase to Aran, not know why somebody would do this, Aran kept running until he ran into the chief's tent, the cloaked figure right on his heels. Chief Koori and another person, brown haired, sat in chairs around a circular table, the former wondering why his warrior whom he had called today was looking so frazzled.

"I'm here chie-" Aran's pursuer had punched him from behind, sending the warrior into the ground for the second time that day. The brown haired man brought his hand up to his face, the chief mirroring the action as Aran slid to a stop in front of him. Not one to stay down for long, Aran whipped around and was in the motion of returning the favor when his fist was caught by his leader.

"We don't hit women unnecessarily Aran." He reprimanded. "Diplomat's included, especially one's of royalty."

"What royalty-"

Long blonde tresses came loose as Mercedes took her hood off, the look on her face telling the general audience that she was not pleased.

"You might want to discipline your warrior Chief Koori." Mercedes nearly growled. "And maybe teach them some manners at the same time."

* * *

Gaston was frustrated with his master. Then again what else was new?

"Just a few more preparations..." Phantom muttered, oblivious to his servant and companion's misgivings about the current plan. Digging around in one the the overly decorated cabinets for things that he would need for the plan.

He should really stop Phantom before the thief went too far...

"And I'll need this too." Said thief grabbed a bag with only god knew what in it, completely ignoring the rapidly growing distress of his butler.

Gaston felt the chill down his spine, that look on his master's face told of long nights and days of worrying for the servant. Throughout his stint of service he had gotten many of these looks but was never able to stop the thief from carrying out whatever he was planning.

"And finally I'll need this..." Phantom picked up the new cane that he had designed himself, aptly named, Phantom Originality. The blue cloth that was tied to the neck of the edge. The brilliant blue gem at the end gleamed in the lights of the extravagant room.

"Master Phantom-"

What is it Gaston?" Phantom turned around, seemingly annoyed that his servant had chosen this of all moments to interrupt him. You see, before each of his thefts Phantom took the time to make up the scenario that would occur when he had successfully accomplished his goal.

"I sincerely ask you not to go through with this plan of yours. It could end disastrously and worse, eliminate the trust between yourself and Mister Freud!"

Phantom frowned, Gaston was rarely concerned about things like friendships unless they were actually at risk, but he couldn't let this one go. "Nonsense this plan is foolproof especially for one such as me; as for Freud he'll understand eventually."

"I doubt he'll be that understanding Master Phantom, especially because you're planning to kidnap the Empress."

-End-

A/N

Sorry it's short, and sorry it's late... I had midterms last week and they weren't fun. Next chapter should include much more conflict though if it's any consolation.

Read and Review please!

-Lunarfeather


	10. Chapter 10: Walking that Fine Line

Chapter 10: Walking the Line

"For the last time, I'm sorry I ran into you!" Aran growled out in an aggravated tone. For the last 20 minutes he had been forced to apologize in any way shape or form to who he saw as one of the most arrogant people he had ever met.

Said person, or rather, elf, was currently sitting in a chair opposite the chief and himself next to the brown haired male, who had identified himself as Freud, Ellinia's envoy to the Root meetings. Currently it seemed he was trying to calm down his elven companion, though all he had to show for it was a rather large bruise on his arm.

"What kind of apology is that? Where I come from the children at least know to admit when they're wrong." The look on her face was condescending enough without the constant insults thrown at him.

"Nonetheless I'll forgive you, we don't have all day to work out this alliance." Aran held his temper in check at this, if only because the sooner this meeting was over the sooner he wouldn't have to see this arrogant Queen anymore...

"Well then." Freud hastily tried to move onto a new subject. "The terms of the alliance will be that we, the Root Alliance, will recognize Rein as one of its members and as such be allowed to certain privileges."

Chief Koori raised an eyebrow in question. "Such as...?" He prompted Freud to elaborate. Not missing a beat Freud picked a piece of paper from his pack and slid it across the table. The chief took a moment to look it over before nodding appreciatively.

"I accept these conditions, I however, also have one thing that I must ask for before we seal this alliance."

Freud tilted his head, inviting the chief to convey his request. The man thought it over for a moment before saying anything.

"I would like to request that we receive a formal written apology from her highness for the insult delivered to our warriors who had died in battle several days ago."

Aran's head snapped up, he wasn't the only one who was surprised, Freud let the feeling of dread wash over him before he looked over to his partner who's eyes had narrowed dangerously. The tension in the room had gone up 3 fold from that simple request.

"I received word from Aran that a dishonor was done to our protectors when he went out on his mission to deliver the message of alliance to Queen Mercedes, all I ask is a simple apology and we will be fine."

Mercedes opened her mouth to retort but was luckily or unluckily depending on how you looked at it, cut off by Freud.

"Of course, Chief Koori, you will receive an apology in two days at the latest." Freud sweated bullets as he felt the hostility behind him rising. Uttering a quick thanks for the meeting, he rushed out of the tent as quickly as courtesy would allow, not stopping until he reached the tent that had been lent to them as a temporary shelter.

Freud began to set down his things, dumping the winter cloak he was wearing onto the bed. "Sorry about that, I just wanted to get us out of that situation. This alliance is important for all of us."

Mercedes didn't respond as she stood silently by the entrance to the tent, she started to walk up to the Dragon Contractor as he kept talking.

"I'll write the-"

A clear crack could be heard as Mercedes drew back her hand and slapped Freud as hard as she could across the face. The now stormy blue eyes reflected an unmerciful anger as she grabbed him by the collar.

"Don't make my decisions for me." She hissed in a deadly voice, the fact that she was angry was clear enough by her tone. She flipped open the tent entrance and left without another word, leaving a dazed, slightly hurt, and completely confused Freud in her wake.

-Ereve-

The moon was high and full, the fireflies were flying around in the serene garden, the only sound was of the little river gurgling happily as Empress Aria sat in her garden. Yes all was serene and peaceful in Ereve for tonight.

Except for the fact that Phantom had infiltrated the place not 10 minutes ago.

'Honestly... the guards here are horribly inept, Gaston is a better guard.' Phantom thought to himself as he took the journey to the Empress' room at a leisurely pace. 'Then again Gaston does manage to capture me sometimes...'

Shaking the thoughts from his head, Phantom simply followed where all the guards were running, having found the unconscious body of the soldier stripped of his uniform earlier; honestly, they might was well put down signposts as to where the Empress was. It turns out however, that for best or for worst, that the Empress had a bad habit of sneaking out at night without telling certain obsessing advisers. Thus while Aria was in the garden quite content with simply watching the dazzling flowers, the guards were in a while man-or lady hunt in this case.

Meanwhile our charming (or so he liked to tell himself) thief continued on his merry way up to the Empress' room where he found the room just as happily seemed to taunt him when the unlocked doors greeted him to a rather modest room for an Empress, a single table with some chairs pushed in around it, several windows, a small fireplace, a bookshelf, and ah yes the bed.

Now if Empress Aria had a penchant for one thing it was sleep, and thus it seemed as if the lavish silk sheets and curtains around the soft downy pillows was worth more then everything else put together. To Phantom however, there was only one thing that was important.

"She's not here..." And indeed, the bed lacked any sort of person and the open window that was facing the courtyard suggested that the Empress may have been on her less then perfect behavior today.

"Well then... everything ventured, never lose, riches gained. That's my motto." And so he turned into a swirl of cards before landing on the courtyard outside, opting to use his skills rather than climb down the precarious looking rope that had been made of old cleaning rags.

"Now where to look...

* * *

Now during this time Aria had been completely oblivious to the chaos in her palace. After all, who would invade the Empress' palace short of the Black Mage? Left alone, Aria's thoughts, for the hundredth time that day, drifted the the womanizing thief that she had met not two days ago.

"How can one person have such an impossibly huge ego..." She murmured to herself as she found herself drawing his face in the dirt with a stick... and then running it through with said impromptu drawing tool, a small sadistic smile appeared on her face, she would get him back for humiliating her like that one day. Normally she wasn't such a vengeful person, but something about the blond debonair infuriated her beyond belief.

"Why Empress, I'm hurt, you didn't enjoy your meeting with me?"

Aria jumped about a foot into the air when a voice whispered into her ear, whipping around she found herself face to face with... a guard?

"What do you mean?" Aria asked, confused at the moment.

The "guard" seemed surprised for a moment before a small smirk appeared on his face. "Oh you really don't remember? Perhaps a reminder then." He proceeded to throw something at her, the object hit her on the forehead before landing in her palm. The Empress fumed, rubbing her head before looking down at the offending projectile.

A card.

"T-Then you, you're...!"

Phantom flipped back his hood dramatically, maybe he did have a tiny flair for the theatrical...

"Correct, now Empress Aria I must insist that you come with me quietly." He offered his hand as if he hadn't just thrown out the fact that he was basically kidnapping her.

Aria of course, slapped the hand away, choosing to take a few steps back further from Phantom. "And if I don't? I suppose we'll be doing this the hard way then."

Despite her bravado the Empress was shaking on the inside, her knowledge of magic was better then most but certainly not enough to match an experienced fighter like Phantom. She had seen what he could do just a few days before and she had to admit, the prospect of a battle with him did not sound very promising for her.

Then Phantom put a hand over his mouth, his body trembling. Aria gave him a half confused half concerned look despite their situation.

"H-Hey are you okay?" The previous distance that she had made closed as she took a few steps forward.

Then Phantom finally cracked, it really was too much, his laughter wasn't excessively loud by any means, it was more like a chuckle. An extremely arrogant and annoying chuckle to be sure but a chuckle nonetheless.

"Oh Empress, surely you don't think that I am that uncouth do you? If you don't come with me then I will simply have to persuade you into coming with me."

"Persuade?"

"Yes." Phantom's laugh died down, now replaced by the usual confident smirk. "Persuade." he grabbed her hand which hung limply at her side and pulled her forward so that she landed on his chest.

"Like this."

Aria laid there for a moment, blinking, not comprehending what had just happened before straightening up and pushing herself away, a loud shriek following soon after.

"G-Get away from me you- you womanizer!" A furious scarlet color had worked it's way up to her face.

Phantom just stood there laughing again, footsteps however, could now be heard in the distance. It seemed that the Empress' yell had attracted the attention of the guards whether she had intended to or not.

"Our time is short Empress, I pray you will keep in good health until we meet again." As he turned into a swirl of cards once again, Aria threw a rock from the ground and missed spectacularly, managing to hit a guard that had rounded the corner on the head who was luckily wearing a helmet.

"Empress! Are you alright?!" Gileheart came running up to Aria relief clear on his face; the guards had been frantically searching for her for almost half an hour now.

Unfortunately for him, for the second time in three days, Empress Aria felt completely humiliated by the thief who treated her like a child. And so for the second time in three days Gileheart was smashed into the ground by a fuming Empress before she returned to her room. It was not until 20 minutes later that she found the card that had been slipped into her hand when Phantom had pulled her forward. The image was of a brilliant rose display, it glowed for a moment before the display was in front of her, gleaming in the moonlight let in by the window.

For some reason, she stayed awake for another few minutes just watching the roses sway in the gentle night breeze.

-End-

A/N

Sorry it's kind of late though it's a bit longer then usual so hopefully that makes up for it. In response to those people who ask for pairings, I'll mention again, I outline a few chapters in advance so I don't get confused at what to write next. Thus requests, as much as I would like to follow them, are going to be next to impossible to implement.

On the other hand it is now constructive criticism is completely welcome if not encouraged and I will try to implement some of those suggestions. It is also vacation week for me so I will most likely be able to get out another chapter this week and perhaps 2 if I'm lucky.

Finally the support for this story is really amazing, I'm happy so many people are enjoying it!

Read and Review please!

-Lunarfeather


	11. Chapter 11: Damage Control

Chapter 11: Damage Control

Freud was walking through the frozen village of Rein, he was supposed to be working out the finer points of the treaty but without one of the main points, or main people, with him, he could do little.

And that was disregarding the fact that said person was currently irrationally pissed off at him.

"Don't make my decisions for me... it wasn't like she had to do anything, I would've written the letter! All she had to do was sign it! But no, she has to storm out of the tent in a rage like a teenage girl!"

Freud sighed heavily, he didn't understand why he was so annoyed over the damn thing. All he had to do was find Mercedes and make her sign the apology he had in his pocket...

This treaty would be a great way to build relations with Rein; the glacial nation was still isolated from outside conflicts as of now, only recently participating in some battles of the war. Then Mercedes had to pull off the "haughty queen" personality and almost ruin those chances!

Still, it didn't explain why he felt so particularly irritated, nor did he have any idea why he was out in the cold searching for her... Speaking of which there was a blond figure sitting on the bench inside of a... tea shop?

As he approached the shop he could hear bits of conversation.

-Mercedes POV-

Mercedes stomped out of the tent, leaving Freud with the mark on his face and probably more then a few feelings of confusion. How dare he humiliate her like that, he didn't even consult her for her opinion before acquiescing to the Chief's request.

With nothing to take her anger out on, Mercedes marched up to a terrified looking middle-aged tea shop owner; she didn't exactly look peaceful with her thunderous expression, bowguns strapped to her waist, and probably murderous feel she was giving off.

"M-May I help you miss?" The man managed to stutter out, practically cowering inside his parka.

"I need a table for one." She said flatly. The man uttered a quick "of course" before showing Mercedes to a table near to the entrance of the shop and bringing a pot of tea a few minutes later.

Mercedes looked at the setup before calling out. "Hey." The man jumped so badly that you would think he was expecting an attack. "Y-Yes?" The Elven Queen gestured to the table.

"Isn't there anything to go along with this? Something to eat?" The shopkeeper muttered something under his breath.

"Hm?"

"We have some Chichi Dango if you would like."

"Good, bring me some please." Looking only a little surprised, the man came back in a few minutes holding a plate of the chewy dessert. Mercedes grabbed the end of one of the skewers and bit one of the little spheres off, chewing slowly as a look of ecstasy came over her face.

"Ah dessert... a perk of human women that I can relate to."

"Er, I can give you the recipe if you want."

Mercedes looked at the owner with a curious expression. "Well, thank you for offering, I'll gladly accept." The shopkeeper came back a few minutes later with a slip of paper. As he started to walk away Mercedes tapped him on the shoulder.

"Sit down for a bit, some company would be welcome right now and it's not like there are any other customers in here besides me." This time, the man could not hide his surprise but sat down across from her nonetheless.

Mercedes poured a cup of tea from the pot before sliding across to the man, it wasn't like she had no social courtesies, in fact Philius had often made her practice these manners against her will.

"Your name?" Mercedes asked straight off.

"Desto ma'am, and yours?"

"Mercedes."

The two sat for a moment, just enjoying one another's company and the hot tea resting in their hands that had been frozen by the cold air.

"So what brings you to our village Miss?"

"What makes you think I'm not from here?" Merecedes started suspiciously; after a few years at war you tended to get paranoid of spies and assassins.

The man seemed unaware of her apprehension as he answered. "First of all your clothes aren't from here, they don't have a Rein craftsman's mark. Second of all..." He the tip of his very human rounded ears. "None of us have pointed ears like elves."

"I see..." she muttered, calming down. "Well to answer you question I'm here to work out some political problems."

"So you're the ambassadors here to sign the treaty with the Chief..." Before Mercedes could become suspicious again he continued. "You'd be surprised how loose tongued people can get when they're drunk." he said with a smile.

"Oh I know don't worry..." She had once made the mistake of pressuring Danika into drinking at a party, she had since forbidden her Elder of War from partaking in any alcohol.

"Disregarding that, why were you so angry when you came in?" Desto seemed to have become more comfortable talking since Mercedes had ceased to become consistently hostile. Unfortunately she reverted right back to that persona once he mentioned her problem.

"Just some problems with a fool."

"The man you came here with?"

"How did you-"

"News travels fast in Rein, especially with the women having little else to do today on a resting day. Anyways what did he do?"

Mercedes made a sound that could be described only as a snort of irritation. "He decided to make my decision for me like I was a child in front of your Chief. Now my people look like they have a leader who is weak, I can't let that happen to them."

The fire burned in her eyes as she said that, everything she did was for her people, she couldn't let them down.

-Freud POV-

"Just some problems with a fool."

Freud clenched his fist, so he was a fool was he? For trying to form an important alliance with Rein? What kind of ambassador's were they if one of them couldn't hold onto their temper enough to not offend the people they were trying to talk to?

He was about to barge in when he heard what she said next.

"He decided to make my decision for me like I was a child in front of your Chief. Now my people look like they have a leader who is weak, I can't let that happen to them."

Freud's eyes widened when he heard what she had said, the previous anger he had felt draining out of him. Suddenly he felt sick with himself' for believing the worst of her when all she had done was her duty as a Queen...

"I understand Miss, sometimes though, you both need to see the other side of the argument. I assure you that perhaps he was simply thinking too heavily about your purpose here, to form an alliance no?"

A heavy silence followed, Freud prayed she was thinking it over and decided to forgive him; particularly because he couldn't find it to forgive himself. He had always been told that he took personal guilt too seriously.

"Still, he should have realized that a leader cannot have anyone make their decisions for them." The curt reply came.

"Well then he was simply distracted, he was in a meeting where a missed word would've either made or broken the alliance. You can't expect him to be very composed under those situations."

"I suppose so..." Mercedes started, unable to argue with the man's logic. "Thank you for your wisdom sir." She had always been taught to be thankful even by her mother when given help.

"No problem youngster." Desto cheerfully replied.

A warm smile appeared on Mercedes' face; it looked like Astilda was right, sometimes talking is the best way to work out some problems.

"Still I need him to at least apologize." A dissatisfied look came over her face, though more pouting then anything.

Finally Freud cracked, trying to put on as much composure as he could, he walked through the entrance of the shop.

A priceless vase, a collection of jewelry, exquisite wines. These were only a few of the steady gifts that had been arriving almost every other day, or rather, night seeing as how the gifts were always delivered in the strangest of ways. A single card that seemed to be guided by the wind as is floated gently onto Empress Aria's bedside.

Needless to say it was driving everybody crazy.

"HOW DOES HE EVEN GET IN?!" Gileheart practically screeched; the guards winced at the volume. The fact that Phantom was constantly able to sneak the card into the Empress' room had made him paranoid, placing guards outside of the room as well as guards under her balcony. Nevertheless, many evenings with a card left on the Empress' bedside left the guard's just as clueless as they had been the previous night.

Even more infuriating was the Empress' refusal to close the window that the card always flew through, claiming that she needed the fresh air. Yet, whenever he found her staring at whatever gift had been left the next morning, he could swear she always had a smile on her face before she wiped it off her face as he walked in.

One morning he had finally had it, he marched towards her office, planning on demanding an explanation, he had some authority around here damn it!

"Empress, we must speak!" He yelled as he barged in, not even looking inside before yelling. What, or rather, who was inside had him standing at the door frozen in place; the blood rapidly draining from his face as an arrow was aimed at it.

"Queen Mercedes, kindly remove your weapon from my strategist's face."

Mercedes gave Gileheart a sharp look before removing the offending object and stowing it away on her waist holster. Aria gave her strategist a similarly withering glare before going back to her guests.

"Now, before we were so rudely interrupted I believe we were discussing the recent battle in the El Nath mountains correct?"

The two across from her nodded. "We would like to ask, what happened? When last we heard the battle was going well, the enemy forces routed and the push to victory secured."

The Empress looked troubled as she recounted what had happened. "It is as you say, however as we closed in to finish the enemy forces off there were reports of a black winged man approaching the army and..."

"And?" Freud prompted.

Gileheart saw it fit to step in, he could tell the Empress was about to clam up, or worse, start crying. "And he then proceeded to decimate our army with minimal support from the Black Mage's other forces, I doubt even one of you could do that Queen Mercedes, Sir Freud."

The two seemed momentarily stunned, only compounding on the silence that had engulfed the room. "You're sure of this...?"

The rhetorical question by Freud was met by a tired answer from the door.

"As sure as I am that I was lucky to survive that day Sir Freud. The man... no, demon... he completely wiped us out."

As they turned to the door, they found the Chief Knight of Light, Aios looking at them.

"A demon... he manipulated the shadows around him, turning them into potent weapons... he seemed to fight with his pure fury..."

The room was heavy with tension, now that they knew about their terrible new adversary, how would they deal with him? The Black Mage seemed to be growing more powerful by the day, meanwhile they were having trouble finding forces themselves.

The future seemed bleak indeed.

A/N

Yeah... sorry this is so late... I've been busy to say the least, working to finish up a forum as well as making a new one. Not to mention having to deal with excessive school work that teachers seem to like to dump on us whenever the word "vacation" pops up.

I won't lie, I got really sidetracked writing my other story, as well as working on other things too. Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long.

Read and Review Please!

-Lunarfeather


End file.
